


Better Man

by ladyofthegreymist



Series: Ivy Evelynne Gianna Trevelyan [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Anger, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, apology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 21:09:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7773487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofthegreymist/pseuds/ladyofthegreymist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A banquet is held at Skyhold after reclaiming the Emprise. Ivy dances with a long list of nobles including one dashing ex-Chevalier, Michel deChevin. Cullen becomes jealous, forcing a confrontation with Ivy on the battlements and culminating in an apology, a surprise and Cullen showing Thedas once and for all that he and Ivy are an item. Anger, jealousy and PDA.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Man

Cullen watches Ivy sweep into the room. She is breathtaking. Even more so than usual. These formal occasions at Skyhold were the only times in which he sees her in a gown. Even at Halamshiral she was wearing a formal uniform which Josephine had insisted upon to show a united front for the Inquisition. Tonight she was wearing a gown of burgundy velvet. Low cut, the neckline sweeping across her chest, showing ample cleavage and clinging to the curves of her waist and hips before falling in graceful folds to the floor. Her golden hair was tied into a simple braid which fell halfway down her back and upon her head she wore a thin circlet of gold, which was sent by her parents in a shipment of her personal belongings from her home in Ostwick. She needed no other adornment. Her eyes peeked out from under dark lashes like sapphires and the golden hue of her skin was made deeper by the candlelight in the hall. Cullen smirked to himself remembering full well how she looked as she lay bare beneath him, golden hair sprayed across the sheets of his bed. Her body warm and taught under his hands. Maker how that woman made his whole being sing.

“A gold coin for your thoughts Commander?”

Cullen was startled out of his daydream and blushed profusely as if the Tevene had seen what he had been thinking.

“Uh. No, nothing really.”

“Ivy looks particularly ravishing tonight does she not? The colour of that dress compliments her skin, don’t you think?”

The mage looked at Cullen mischievously, eyebrow raised.

“Uh. Yes, she looks lovely.”

Dorian laughed out loud.

“Commander, the Inquisitor has been sharing your bed for how long now and all you can say is ‘She looks lovely?’ Sometimes I wonder what she sees in you to be honest. Such a fiery, passionate woman could have any choice of powerful, seductive men and she chooses a shy, nervous Templar as her lover. It’s baffling to say the least.”

Cullen knitted his brows.

“Thank you Dorian, for that summation of our relationship. I’ll be sure to take up the Inquisitor's choice in lover with her in due course. Should I suggest that she put me aside and find someone else worthy of her passion?”

Cullen stalked off before the man could reply. Watching Ivy, converse with the nobles, he drained his tankard and looked about for a servant to refill it. He wondered if the man was right, was he not passionate enough for her, not noble enough for her. Not enough. Sighing he emptied his tankard again and watched as the band was beginning to play and noblemen clamoured to dance with the famed Inquisitor and proclaimed Herald of Andraste. Ivy took the hand of the Comte du Bois, allowing him to spin her into the middle of the dance floor with the other couples. Cullen watched as he placed a hand upon her waist. Too low for his liking. He became incensed when she didn’t attempt to move it to a more appropriate position. Instead she smiled at him brightly as they glided around the room, dancing in time to the music, her burgundy skirts fanning out behind her as she circled. Cullen had danced with her once. It was after the Ball at the Winter Palace. The Ball in which Celene had been assassinated and her cousin Gaspard had been interred onto the throne with the elf Ambassador Briala, made into his trusted advisor. The Ball in which Cullen had helplessly watched as Ivy, Vivienne, Dorian and Sera had cut down the treacherous Grand Duchess Florianne. After events Ivy had escaped to the grand balcony to mull over the evenings transgressions and this is where Cullen had found her, tears in her eyes, unsure if her decisions had been justified. Cullen had comforted her the best he could and asked her to dance. He remembered the way she had felt in his arms, they had not yet consummated their relationship at that point. He had wanted to wait until things were settled, until his feelings for her had been confirmed. She had asked numerous times and he had refused. Yet she still waited for him and it was in that moment, on a balcony at Halamshiral as he awkwardly attempted to dance, that he realised he was head over heels in love with her.

Watching her now dancing with other men was painful for him. He knew she did her duty as a gracious hostess but Dorian’s words ate away at him. He found fault in all her dance partners. They were too handsy, stood too close, smiled too seductively. His hands clenched tightly into fists. When the disgraced Chevalier Michel de Chevin took his turn to dance with her it almost broke him. The man was handsome, bright blonde hair, blue eyes. A Courtier’s tongue. Cullen watched as they smiled at each other laughing over a joke only they were privy to. Ivy looked too comfortable, too eager and too smiling. Cullen had had enough of the display and strode across the dance floor to the unsuspecting couple. He grabbed Ivy’s arm roughly and turned her toward him.

“Ivy, a word if you please”

She looked at him in shock.

“Cullen, can it wait until after the song has ended?”

“No.”

Ivy’s sapphire eyes narrowed at him and she ripped her arm from his grip.

“Meet me out on the battlements. I will come when I have finished this dance.”

She tossed her hair and smiled up at her dance partner. Putting her hand in his she proceeded to be led around the floor again as if nothing had happened and her whole court was not staring, or at least pretending not to stare. Cullen was in a rage, he turned on his heel and stalked from the hall without a backward glance.

 

###

 

It felt like eternity when Ivy joined him in the crisp night air. He saw her approaching, face contorted with anger, he did not expect the slap she gave him, his ears rung with its force, stars dancing in his vision.

“What in Andraste’s name is wrong with you tonight Cullen? I understand you don’t like these gatherings, but you of all people should know that we must keep up pretences as to be seen as worthy of attention of these nobles. I hate the game as much as you do, but these are the things we must endure if we are to garner support to bring down Corypheus!”

Cullen, crossed his arms, staring angrily down at her.

“Well it would be fine if you didn’t seem to be enjoying dancing with those men so bloody much!”

Ivy looked at him in surprise.

“That’s what this is all about? You’re jealous? You embarrass me and yourself, as well as the whole Inquisition in front of our guests because you are jealous? Maker’s breath Cullen you have nothing to be jealous of. Where did you get an idea like that from?”

“You! You let those men fawn over you, you smile at them, enjoying their attention. de Chevin seemed to be quite taken with you and you him. I suppose his honeyed tongue incites a passion in you that you don’t seem to get with me. Dorian was right I suppose.”

Ivy looked at him sharply.

“What does Dorian have to do with this?”

“He told me he doesn’t know what you see in me. He thinks I’m too nervous, shy and quiet for you. He may as well have just shouted virgin Chantry boy in my face and be done with it! He implied that I wasn’t enough for you.”

Ivy stood with her hand on her hips and regarded him angrily.

“Of all the stupid, fool-brained… I’ll take this up with Dorian later. But you. Out of all the people here I expect you to know me best. I have told you things about my life, about myself that I have _NEVER_ told anyone. You know I have had other lovers, but _NONE_ of them, Cullen, not _ONE_ of them, has _EVER_ ignited the same feelings in me as you do. You think you are not enough for me? You are more than enough. You are everything. I damn well don’t know what else I can do to show you, to _PROVE_ to you that you are my one and only. That I _LOVE_ you with every fibre of my being. Heart, soul, mind and body, I am _YOURS_! None of those men in that hall _COMBINED_ , would ever amount to the man you are. I just wish you could see that. I just wish you could see what I see when I look at you.”

Ivy paused as she moved to walk back towards the hall. The look she gave him was one of disappointment and sheer exhaustion.

“Cullen I was hoping we could revisit our dance back at Halamshiral tonight. But I see you are in no mood. I will leave you to your anger and jealousy and when you have made up your mind about me… about _US_ come talk to me, but not a moment before. I am too tired to deal with this right now. I have a pretence to keep up to ensure these pariahs are happy and it’s draining.”

Cullen watched her leave, the heat of his anger subsiding as her words hit home, replacing it with a cold emptiness. Had she not shown him time and time again her love? Had she not been there to support him during his bouts of Lyrium withdrawal. Had she not been his strength when he couldn’t bear the pain anymore? Had she not let him cry like child into her breast as he recounted the horror of what happened at Kinloch. How he had watched his first love die to protect him? She had always been there, carrying his burdens as well as her own, as well the burdens of Thedas. For all her bravado, for all her seemingly cold exterior, he saw her as she was, a woman. A woman of fire, of fierce, passionate love, of unexpected tenderness. He had disappointed himself as well as her with his actions tonight. Dorian was right in the end, he wasn’t enough… not right now. But he would work and he would strive and he would be the man she needed. Straightening the black velvet dress coat he wore and running his fingers through his blonde, unruly hair he turned and strode purposefully toward the hall and his woman. Tonight would be the first step in proving to himself, that he was worthy.

 

###

 

Cullen had entered the hall quietly and organised the band to play the song they had danced to at Halamshiral. It was THEIR song now he decided. As the music softly floated through the hall, he approached Ivy, looking as calm and as regal as he could, but inside his heart was beating in his throat and his stomach was twisting in knots. He hated being the centre of attention, but he would endure – for her. Bowing low, he held his hand out to her.

“My Lady Trevelyan, Inquisitor, Herald of Andraste, Queen of my Heart. Would you accept your Commander’s sincerest and most humble apology and deign to join him in this dance?”

He spoke loud enough for anyone nearby to hear him, he knew all eyes were on them now and he began to sweat nervously. When she didn’t answer he looked up at her, she was studying him, eyes sparkling with tears. He smiled encouragingly. She gave him a small smile in return and placed her hand in his.

“My Lord Commander, Lion of Ferelden and King of my Heart, I graciously accept your apology and would be delighted to join you in this dance.”

Cullen stood and led her out to the dance floor, he placed his hand on the curve below her waist, lower than he normally would and pulled her in close to him, he could feel the warmth of her body as she moulded seamlessly into his, her scent of rose and vanilla enveloping him. As he looked down into her eyes, there was suddenly no one else in the room but them and them alone. As he led her around the floor, he thought the whole world could be swallowed up by the breach and he wouldn’t notice.

“You’ve been practising your dancing.”

It was a statement, not a question. He grinned at her and gave her a slight nod.

“When you were away in the Emprise. I… uh… had Josephine give me lessons. You were right, she is a hard taskmistress. It was harder than learning sword forms.”

Ivy chuckled.

“I did warn you, I only had to brush up on my steps when she had me under her iron fist, not learn a whole dance from scratch.”

“I am sorry you know.”

He changed the subject. Ivy moved her hand from his shoulder to his cheek, caressing it.

“I know... I'm sorry too. I should never have hit you."

"I deserved it. Idiot I was."

He smiled down at her softly, studying her features. She was a beauty, inside and out, and she was his and he, hers.

“I forget how much of yourself you give to Thedas, it’s a surprise you have any left for me, but there you are, when I need you most, making sure I don’t give in. I’m going to do better for you Ivy. I want to be there when you need me. When all this is too much, I want to help you through it. I want to do that for you. I don’t want to spend a night apart from you when you are here. I want to take care of you, I want to make sure you eat and sleep and know you are loved.”

Ivy looked up at him and smiled coquettishly.

“Cullen are you offering to move in with me?”

He pulled her tighter into his embrace.

“If that’s what it takes.”

“Then yes, I want nothing more to share more of myself with you. Though I’ll have to insist on my rooms, not yours. That hole in the roof of your room is not conducive to good rest or dry bed linen.”

Cullen chuckled.

“As you wish my lady.”

“Cullen?”

“Yes?”

“I think now is the perfect time to kiss me.”

Cullen abruptly stopped their dance and looked down at her, he cupped her face in his hands and leaned in pressing his lips on hers softly. Ivy let out a quiet sigh and her lips parted, submitting to the heat of his probing tongue. She twined her arms around his waist and pressed herself into him. The realisation that they were not alone in the room hit them when a roar from the surrounding crowd startled them from their embrace. Ivy blushed deeper than he had ever seen, from her cleavage to her ears. Cullen was sure he looked the same. He held one of her hands in his as the other rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Shit.”

All Ivy could do was laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> Is it just me or does everyone else have what feels like a thousand canons rolling around in their heads? Ivy is my newest Inquisitor. A no nonsense Warrior. She's a sarcastic bitch and in the beginning hard to get along with. Cullen sees past her exterior and he manages to break down her walls. This little fic is set just after Emprise du Lion but before the events of the Arbor Wilds, The Temple of Sacred Ashes, Descent and Trespasser. I'll be writing more as they come which means they will be out of order for a time... Apologies! This one just appeared in my head as I drove my kids to school this morning and I just HAD to get it on paper before I forgot it! 
> 
> As usual Bioware owns everything including my soul. 
> 
> Please enjoy. I welcome comments. Still getting used to writing again. xx


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